


Caring For Each Other

by wondering_why_i



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-02
Packaged: 2019-02-09 15:07:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12890502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wondering_why_i/pseuds/wondering_why_i
Summary: Sam and Gadreel care for each other.





	Caring For Each Other

**Author's Note:**

> Written for LiveJournal's 2017 spn_reversebang. Based on art by OutOfLuck/sastmk on ao3 here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12882159/chapters/29427630

There’s a loud, frantic banging on the bunker door, and Sam runs to it so quickly he almost falls from tripping over the steps he’s taking three at a time. He throws open the door, but Dean isn’t on the other side like he’d hoped. Instead, Sam finds himself looking at a pair of angels. A very poorly looking but alive Gadreel is being held up by Hannah, and after a moment, Sam shakes away his disappointment and takes over supporting Gadreel. Hannah looks relieved, and Sam can’t help but chuckle. She shoots him an annoyed look, and he clears his throat. He supposes that, no matter how strong an angel is, the current height difference in their vessels would make it tough.

Hannah pushes past, careful not to jostle her brother in doing so, Sam notices, and heads down the stairs. Sam helps Gadreel follow suit, and when they reach the illuminated table, Hannah has already pulled out a chair for Gadreel.

Sam has a question, and he can’t hold it in anymore.

“How is he still alive?” Sam asks. “Cas said he sacrificed himself; big ball of light angel explosion like the ice cream shop angel.”

Hannah shakes her head and shrugs, unable to give him an answer. “Before bringing Metatron to his cell, I went to check the damage from the explosion to make sure there was a cell free of damage that could properly hold him, and that’s when I found Gadreel in the rubble, barely alive.”

“Why bring him here?”

“Because he deserves to be free, and I don’t know if Heaven is willing to grant him that, even after he was willing to sacrifice his own life. This place is warded. I’m hoping he can stay and heel in safety? I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye but…”

“He can. I promise.”

Hannah nods and turns to her brother. Gadreel’s body is slumped against the table, motionless, and Sam’s instinct kicks in. He drops to one knee, lifting Gadreel’s head up and lightly tapping at a dirty cheek. Gadreel’s eyes flutter, but Sam can tell that’s all he’s going to get out of him at the moment.

“Does he still have his grace?” Sam asks. “Wait, is this even Gadreel or is this his vessel?” Sam is suddenly worried. If Gadreel is gone, Sam is looking at a human in serious need of a hospital.

“This is Gadreel. His vessel’s soul didn’t survive the sacrifice.”

Sam sighs. Another innocent human life lost. “He’s at peace,” Hannah tells him. Sam’s not in the mood to argue so instead he motions towards the door leading to the living quarters.

“Go right, open the first door on the left,” he tells her while lifting Gadreel’s body out of the chair. Hannah obliges. Inside the room, she clears the bed of the miscellaneous objects on it so Sam can lay Gadreel down.

“As far as his grace is concerned, I can only speculate that he does still have it but it’s severely damaged. The state he’s in, I don’t think I can check for sure without killing him.” Sam nods, and they both stand in silence as they look down at Gadreel.

“I should go,” Hannah tells him after a few moments. Sam walks her back to the stairs, waiting until the door closes behind her before going to get a wash basin and cloth. As the basin fills with warm water, Sam decides to grab the first aid kit as well.

Gadreel hasn’t moved, and Sam make’s sure he’s still alive before getting started. He cuts the remainder of the shirt and jacket Gadreel is wearing so that he can pull them away as gently and easily as possible before cleaning off the blood and grime.

Once he’s finished, other than the self-inflicted Enochian sigil and stab wound, Sam only sees some minor cuts, scrapes and bruises on Gadreel’s face, chest and arms. He grabs the bottle of rubbing alcohol but puts it back in the kit. “Angels don’t need disinfecting,” Sam mumbles to himself. _Usually_ , his mind adds. Sam looks at Gadreel. “Don’t suppose you can tell me whether or not I’d be wasting my time and first aid supplies, can you?” Gadreel remains still and silent. “Didn’t think so.”

Sam gets to work disinfecting Gadreel’s wounds to be safe before stitching up the carved sigil and stab wound and bandaging them up.

Sam is pretty sure there isn’t anything else he can do now to help Gadreel other than let him rest and let his body heal itself, so Sam grabs a spare blanket to cover him with and returns to his laptop. Dean is still missing.

* * *

Gadreel wakes slowly and opens his eyes. The room is dim, the only light coming from the doorway, and he looks around, trying to figure out where he is.

It takes a moment, but he finally recalls Hannah bringing him to Sam Winchester. Gadreel tries to sit up, but his body isn’t making it easy. Everything hurts and everything feels heavy. Gadreel pushes himself into a seated position and looks down at his chest. There’s a bandage wrapped around it, and the skin underneath feels tight. Something pulls at his skin when he moves, and Gadreel peeks under the bandage to see that his wounds have been stitched.

Holding a hand to his chest, he attempts to heal himself but nothing happens. Though he isn’t human, he’s in no condition to heal himself.

Gadreel sets to work on getting out of bed, not at all liking the state he’s in. The lack of energy and ease of movement are off putting and worrisome. Though logic tells him his tended wounds mean he’s in a safe place, Gadreel doesn’t feel safe. 

He makes it to the bedroom door and leans against the door frame for a few minutes until he’s confident his legs will support him in walking a longer distance. The hallway is silent, and Gadreel makes his way to the doorway a few feet away. He recognizes the room on the other side, remembering Dean Winchester slicing into him with the First Blade, but Dean is nowhere in sight.

Gadreel considers the staircase leading up to the exit but doesn’t know what he would do on the other side of the bunker’s warded walls. Where would he even go? He’s in no shape to protect himself, after all.

Gadreel walks towards the library instead, stopping at the bottom of the steps. Sam is at a table with his computer, and Gadreel clears his throat to announce his presence, unsure of what to say. 

Sam looks relieved and smiles, waving him forward and using his foot to push a chair out from under the table. “I was starting to think you wouldn’t pull through. You’ve been out for almost five days.”

“Did it work?” He needs to know that it wasn’t for nothing. He needs to know that Metatron was defeated.

“It did. Metatron is locked up now. That’s when Hannah found you and brought you here. She felt you would be safer.”

Safer. Gadreel still doesn’t feel it. “Your brother?” he asks. “Is he alright with my presence?”

When Sam tells him Dean is missing, Gadreel feels relief followed by guilt. Sam is clearly hurt by his brother’s absence.

“So Hannah said she wasn’t sure how much of your grace was left.”

Gadreel thinks most of his grace was destroyed during the sacrifice but that some remained, resulting in his survival. He knows his body will heal, but he’s pretty sure his angelic abilities are gone forever.

“Speaking of healing, can I see how that’s coming along?” Sam asks, pointing to Gadreel’s bandaged chest. Gadreel nods, allowing Sam to remove the bandage wrapped around Gadreel’s chest. “There’s so sign of infection, and it looks like most of those stitches can come out now. The stab wound stitches will need to stay for a while longer though. Whatever you used did some serious damage.”

Sam gets up from his chair and beckons Gadreel to follow, which he does. He follows Sam to the kitchen, hanging back by the door while Sam grabs a box from the counter and then following him over to the table. Sam moves him to under a ceiling light and takes a seat on the corner of the table.

Gadreel watches as Sam snips and pulls each stitch with practiced ease.

“You have done this many times,” he states.

“Unfortunately.”

After the last stitch is pulled, Gadreel watches Sam give the scissors and tweezers a quick wipe before tossing them back in the metal box and standing up.

“You, my friend, could use a shower,” Sam announces. “No more angel powers means no more magic wash ups. Welcome to life as a mortal.”

Gadreel doesn’t know how he feels about that.

* * *

Jody calls on a Monday. People in and around town are being attacked. Coroners are saying wild animals did it, because what else can they say, but knowing what she knows, Jody is sure wild animals aren’t the cause. No animal she knows of can get into a building without leaving a trace. The only connection she’s found is they were all in the same college club ten years prior and there are only two club members left.

Sam tells her it’s most likely a hellhound collecting on crossroad deals and that he'll bring her some hex bags to keep the remaining two people safe and hidden, along with glasses scorched with holy fire to see the hellhounds that she can then kill with the angel blades and/or blade bullets they left her, though the hounds should stop coming once their targets are hidden.

Sam’s ready to head out and goes to let Gadreel know he’ll be gone for the day, maybe longer if Jody wants his help. Last he saw, Gadreel was in his room, so Sam heads that way. He comes across him leaving the bathroom in a towel, just having taken a shower, something he seems to enjoy doing. Sam feels a little guilty for objectifying an angel, but not enough to stop his thoughts as he walks down the hallway to reach Gadreel.

Sam puts on an ugly pair of glasses and starts to say ‘how do I look’ but only gets three words in before he stops in shock, seeing Gadreel’s mangled wings. He never thought he’d get to see angel wings other than as a projected shadow. Despite Gadreel’s wings being mangled and injured, Sam is blown away.

Gadreel suddenly turns to look behind himself, and a wing comes sweeping towards Sam. Sam tries to duck out of the way, but the hallway only allows for limited movement and Gadreel’s wings span wide. Instead of being knocked over like he’s expecting, Sam feels nothing. When Gadreel turns back to face him, Sam can see the wings pass over him once more yet still feels nothing.

“Your wings,” Sam tells Gadreel who is giving him a quizzical look.

“You can see them?” Gadreel looks behind himself again. “That is not possible. Not without serious consequence.”

Sam holds up the other pair of glasses he’s holding. “The magic of holy fire, it would seem,” he tells Gadreel, amazed. “I wonder what else these reveal,” Sam mumbles to himself. “Will your wings heal without your full grace?”

Gadreel explains that they had yet to finish healing from the fall after Metatron expelled the angels from Heaven but that they should with time. Whether they will ever return to their natural full state, however, he can’t say, only hope. 

“You look absolutely ridiculous in those, by the way,” Gadreel teases before Sam leaves.

Sam smiles during the entire drive to Sioux Falls.

When he returns from helping Jody, as something to pass the time, Sam gathers more old glasses from around the bunker and prepares them to add to their weapons arsenal. Sam is sure to test each pair “to ensure they work”, but he and Gadreel both know it's more of an excuse to see his wings. They may be mangled, but they're still impressive.

* * *

Gadreel hears a car drive into the garage and smiles. Sam has returned from his trip with Castiel. When he enters the garage to greet him, he sees something is holding Sam’s arm against his body, and Gadreel's smile drops. Sam is injured.

Gadreel suggests he take a night off from researching, and Sam considers it. “Give me that,” he tells him, taking the bag from Sam’s good arm. “Why don’t you go wash off that blood and filth while I make you a sandwich?”

“I took care of you when you we’re injured so now you’re returning the favor?” Gadreel senses he’s being teased.

“It is only fair. And I am an angel,” Gadreel reminds. “My purpose is to protect my father’s creation, after all. I may not be able to heal you as an angel could, but I can help like a human would.”

Sam ends up agreeing with Gadreel’s suggestion that he take the night off, and later in the evening, Gadreel can see that Sam's a little inebriated after some drinks. 

Sam wants to know about Gadreel’s vessel, so Gadreel tells him about his life as a drifter, never staying in the same place for very long, not much different from Sam and Dean. 

“Sound’s like a good guy. He’s hot, too. Or you are? I suppose it’s your body now. Though he was himself before you hoped in for a ride. Twice. Poor bastard. What on earth possessed him to say yes a second time?” 

Gadreel doesn’t understand much of what Sam is trying to say, but he watches with fascination as Sam tries to figure something out. Gadreel doesn’t think he understands most of what he’s saying either.

Sam eventually trails off and lets out a breath “I should stop drinking. I say things when I get drunk. Things I wouldn’t normally say. Dean thinks it’s funny. Unless it’s not funny. Like the time I told him to kill me. That really wasn’t funny.”

“We’re you trying to be funny?”

“I thought I was evil,” Sam replies, as if that explained the drunken request. “Please make me stop talking.”

Gadreel is about to ask Sam how exactly he’s meant to do that, but before he can do so, Sam leans forward and kisses him.

Gadreel isn’t entirely sure he knows what he’s doing, but he can’t say he dislikes what’s happening. Sam doesn’t seem to have any complaints, and he’s stopped talking, both good reasons for Gadreel to allow himself to stop thinking for while and just be. 

* * *

Sam gets a lead that could finally get him answers about Dean, maybe even locate him. Gadreel asks if he should still be here when Sam hopefully returns with his brother. Sam tells him he hopes he will be, so Gadreel promises him he will still be here when Sam returns.

Gadreel didn’t know what to expect when Sam returned, but out of the possibilities he’d imagined, a demonized Dean Winchester wasn’t on the list.

He can see how hard it is on Sam having his brother in the state he’s in. Gadreel has listened from behind the closed dungeon door, and there is no kindness in Dean’s words to his little brother.

Desperate to put a smile on Sam’s face, if only for a moment, Gadreel looks back at his wings and spreads them open. Scanning his eyes over the feathers, Gadreel looks for one that is unmarred, sleek and shiny. He spots one near his left shoulder and takes a breath before giving a hard pull, grunting in pain when it comes free.

When an angel’s vessel is deeply injured, their grace is exposed, and humans can see it shine out of them, bright and blue. Gadreel hopes that the same can be said for a plucked feather.

Sam is in his room, leaning back against the headboard of his bed, eyes closed. Gadreel joins him, sliding the feather between two of Sam’s fingers. Sam reacts to the feeling of an object and opens his eyes. They widen when he sees the feather, and Gadreel watches as Sam’s head tilts to look up at the long feather in his hand.

Sam is in awe, and Gadreel smiles. Mission accomplished.


End file.
